<html>
<!--
 Copyright (C) 2005, 2006 Joe Walnes.
 Copyright (C) 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 XStream committers.
 All rights reserved.
 
 The software in this package is published under the terms of the BSD
 style license a copy of which has been included with this distribution in
 the LICENSE.txt file.
 
 Created on 29. January 2005 by Joe Walnes
 -->
  <head>
    <title>Java to XML serialization, and back again</title>
    <meta name="short" content="About XStream"/>
  </head>

  <body>

    <p>XStream is a simple library to serialize objects to XML and back again.</p>

    <h1 id="features">Features</h1>

    <ul>
        <li><b>Ease of use.</b> A high level facade is supplied that simplifies common use cases.</li>
        <li><b>No mappings required.</b> Most objects can be serialized without need for specifying mappings.</li>
        <li><b>Performance.</b> Speed and low memory footprint are a crucial part of the design, making it suitable for
        large object graphs or systems with high message throughput.</li>
        <li><b>Clean XML.</b> No information is duplicated that can be obtained via reflection. This results
        in XML that is easier to read for humans and more compact than native Java serialization.</li>
        <li><b>Requires no modifications to objects.</b> Serializes internal fields, including private and
        final. Supports non-public and inner classes. Classes are not required to have default constructor.</li>
        <li><b>Full object graph support.</b> Duplicate references encountered in the object-model will
        be maintained. Supports circular references.</li>
        <li><b>Integrates with other XML APIs.</b> By implementing an interface, XStream can serialize
        directly to/from any tree structure (not just XML).</li>
        <li><b>Customizable conversion strategies.</b> Strategies can be registered allowing customization of how
        particular types are represented as XML.</li>
        <li><b>Security framework.</b> Fine-control about the unmarshalled types to prevent security issues with
        manipulated input.</li>
        <li><b>Error messages.</b> When an exception occurs due to malformed XML, detailed diagnostics are provided
        to help isolate and fix the problem.</li>
        <li><b>Alternative output format.</b> The modular design allows other output formats. XStream ships currently
        with JSON support and morphing.</li>
    </ul>

    <h1 id="use-cases">Typical Uses</h1>

    <ul>
        <li><b>Transport</b></li>
        <li><b>Persistence</b></li>
        <li><b>Configuration</b></li>
        <li><b>Unit Tests</b></li>
    </ul>

    <h1 id="limitations">Known Limitations</h1>

    <p>If using the enhanced mode, XStream can re-instantiate classes that do not have a default constructor. 
    However, if using a different JVM like an old JRockit version, a JDK 1.4 or you have restrictions because of a 
    SecurityManager, a default constructor is required.</p>

    <p>The enhanced mode is also necessary to restore final fields for any JDK &lt; 1.5. This implies deserialization of
    instances of an inner class.</p>

    <p>Auto-detection of annotations may cause race conditions. Preprocessing annotations is safe though.</p>

    <h1 id="getting-started">Getting Started</h1>

    <ul>
      <li><a href="download.html">Download it</a>.</li>
      <li><a href="tutorial.html">Use it</a>.</li>
    </ul>

    <h1 id="news">Latest News</h1>

    <h2 id="1.4.8"><b>February 18, 2015</b> XStream 1.4.8 released</h2>

      <p>Maintenance release 1.4.8 of XStream with bug fixes and improvements running with Java 8.</p>

      <p>XStream supports now serializable lambda types for a Java 9 runtime.</p>

      <p>View the complete <a href="changes.html">change log</a> and <a href="download.html">download</a>.</p>

      <p>Note, the next major release 1.5 will require Java 6.</p>

      <p>Thanks to this impressive list of <a href="team.html#contributors">contributors</a>.</p>

  </body>
</html>
